The standoff between the Ukrainian government and protesters escalated this week, as demonstrators clashed with police and snipers opened fire in the worst violence the country has seen since the breakup of the Soviet Union a quarter-century ago. The Health Ministry put the death toll at 77 and some opposition figures said it's even higher.

Reinforcing barricades

Protesters take a rest

Feb. 20, 2014: Activists have a rest at the burning barricades, on the side of bloody clashes close to Independence Square, the epicenter of the country's current unrest, Kiev, Ukraine. Fearing that a call for a truce was a ruse, protesters tossed firebombs and advanced upon police lines Thursday in Ukraine's embattled capital. Government snipers shot back and the almost medieval melee that ensued left scores of people dead.

Launching an attack

Remembering the fallen

Feb. 20, 2014: Activists and priests pay respects to protesters who were killed in clashes with police, a flag held by one activist reads "For Ukraine"; in Kiev's Independence Square.

(AP)

remembering-the-fallen

Ukraine clashes

Feb. 20, 2014: Fierce clashes between police and protesters, some including gunfire, shattered a brief truce in Ukraine's besieged capital Thursday, killing numerous people. The deaths came in a new eruption of violence just hours after the country's embattled president and the opposition leaders demanding his resignation called for a truce and negotiations to try to resolve Ukraine's political crisis.

The standoff between the Ukrainian government and protesters escalated this week, as demonstrators clashed with police and snipers opened fire in the worst violence the country has seen since the breakup of the Soviet Union a quarter-century ago. The Health Ministry put the death toll at 77 and some opposition figures said it's even higher.